Orlando, Fla. – The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), a leading professional organization representing invasive and interventional cardiologists, announced today key initiatives of its newly adopted strategic plan. The 2016-2021 plan charts the direction for SCAI's growth and continued success over the next five years and will serve as the blueprint for achieving SCAI's vision to save and enhance lives. The strategic plan was officially launched during the opening session of the SCAI 2016 Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

“Last year at this time we were just starting to develop our first strategic plan in a decade. Looking back on the last strategic plan, developed in 2005, we noted that SCAI had accomplished most of the objectives laid out then,” noted SCAI 2015-16 President James C. Blankenship, MD, MHCM, FSCAI. “That gave us the confidence to think big as we looked to the future. We went through 9 months of work by a Strategic Planning Work Group and the Board of Trustees that concluded with the Trustees approving a new strategic plan last fall. Since then we have been working on translating its goals into action.”

SCAI has defined its mission to lead the global interventional community through education, advocacy, research and quality patient care. A key component of the strategic plan is a set of overarching goals that will guide the organization which include:

• Advocacy: Be the trusted voice of the interventional community worldwide.
• Community: Be the global home for interventional cardiovascular professionals.
• Education: Be the leading source premier interventional cardiovascular education and training.
• Quality: Promote excellence, accountability and innovation in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
• Research: Advance evidence-based practice through research in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
• Sustainability: Ensure a dynamic and fiscally responsible organization.

"We have brainstormed and developed plans to achieve these six goals, prioritized them, and started to implement them,” Dr. Blankenship continued. “For example, we have started a membership committee tasked with improving the value of SCAI to its members. We have developed plans for international chapters and are creating our first international chapter in India. We are also discussing plans to initiate registries specific to interventional patients with national and international partners.”

The new strategic plan will provide a blueprint for SCAI activities over the next few years, through its traditional focus on quality, education and advocacy, as well as new efforts to encourage interventional research and to be the home and voice of all interventional cardiovascular professionals throughout the world.